Instances of public-place violent crime — an offence in which any member of the public is likely to have seen the attack — have risen by around 18 per cent in Elmbridge this year. Some areas have seen a dramatic increase. Hersham has experienced three-and-a-half times the number of violent incidents.

From this Friday, Operation Stamp will see officers target areas of Walton, Hersham and Molesey on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights and involve additional licensing checks on pubs and off-licences.

These areas were identified during an investigation into the rise in violent crime, which was commissioned four weeks ago and completed a fortnight later.

“We really wanted to get down into the detail as to where the violent crime is happening,” said Insp Yearwood. “The analysis shows that there are three areas where violent crime is up.

“One is Walton. That isn’t just the town centre, it is the urban areas going out towards North Walton and Walton Ambleside. The second area is Molesey and the third area is Hersham.

“As a result, we are putting together some extra staffing to carry out some patrols around violent crime in these three areas.

“It is vital that the residents in these areas — who may have noticed that there has been an increase in violent crime — see more visible patrols by officers.

“What we have generally found when we have had officers on patrol is that they have detected more offences.”

This year, Walton has been the worst area for public-place violent crime, accounting for 21 per cent of offences, a one per cent increase on last year. East and West Molesey have accounted for 16 per cent, up three points on the previous twelve months.

Hersham is up 10 percentage points to 14.

“That is a fairly significant increase but I have to say that the crime in Hersham has been going down – the work we have done has already had quite an effect,” said Insp Yearwood.

Operation Stamp follows a move from all of the boroughs in the North Surrey division last April to provide extra officers on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“These additional patrols have been very helpful,” said Insp Yearwood. “What we intend to do over the next few weeks is identify more resources.

“We will receive help on some days from some of the other boroughs in our division and, on other days, we will identify staff of our own.

“I think there will be a lot of support from our specials colleagues and we will also use headquarters’ resources.”

He added: “I would like to point out that the borough is having a very successful year and we are reducing crime in many areas.

“Where we are not being most successful is violent crime and we have got to acknowledge that – it is up across the borough.”